Healthy Learners

About Healthy Learners

Believing that children learn better when they are healthy, Providence Hospitals along with a group of committed community citizens established Healthy Learners, formerly Health Reach, in 1992 to help alleviate health related barriers to learning that face our community's economically disadvantaged children. The program began by offering services to five Columbia inner city elementary schools but over the years, the program in the Midlands area experienced tremendous growth. The dream of replication of the Healthy Learners model and statewide expansion of the program became reality in the fall of 2005 as 3 new programs opened in different regions of the state; one in Allendale (Lowcountry), one in Dillon (PeeDee) and one in Greenwood (Upstate). In January of 2009, another Healthy Learners program opened in Georgetown County. Currently the five Healthy Learners programs serve 144 schools in nine school districts across South Carolina.

Healthy Learners services include vision care, dental care, hearing evaluations, assistance with prescription medications, clinical counseling and episodic care for other health concerns. Over the years, thousands of children have received health care services statewide and thousands of miles have been traveled while transporting children to their health care appointments.

As a result of being served by Healthy Learners, our program evaluation outcome measures have documented a large number of children with health status improvement, increased self-esteem and improved ability to perform academically in school. Not only have Healthy Learners' children improved their academic performance, the immense health disparities that economically disadvantaged children face are being narrowed.